Because of the fact that i had will, the book only lasted for about a week as a form of inspiration more than education. Every now and then i would experiment by using the mind and body magic exercises just to see what the other magics felt like and compare their energy consumption. There was not much different in this regard, except maybe that will used a little more energy than the other magics.
The real difference was the way in which the three types magics make use of the different 'schools' of magic.
Similar to how the fire that I made using body magic had burned around my body, a body mage was able to also infuse magic or elements into their body. Of course, a little bit of practice proved that i could also throw fireballs in this fashion. However, the real beauty of body magic was directly infusing magic into my body.
If i guided or forces my magical energy as well as simply willing it into my arms and legs and torso, i could increase my Strength as well as Endurance by large amounts. Maintaining this increased physical state, though, took up a large amount of energy. Increasing both stats by twenty points could only be maintained for ten or so minutes.
If i wanted to increase my Agility, i had to infuse magic into my mind which increased the speed of my perceptions. I could solely increase my Agility by thirty points for about the same amount of time as the other two physical stats.
While in this enhanced state, i could easily follow the flight paths of small insects with my eyes and snatch flies out of the air.
My experimentation with mind magic was mostly directed into the mystic arts, though. Here i explored what was basically considered psychic abilities back on Earth. My first endeavor in making ice through controlling heat would have been listed under psychokinesis, but the first mystic art in the book was telekinesis.
This was also something i had done on my first foray into the mystic arts by flinging the ice i had made, although then it had been an accident. Now, i was learning how to actively apply my will to an object with my conscious mind and projected energy.
The descriptions and explanations used in the book were kind of hard to wrap my head around even though i already had previous understandings of these power. Rather, it was probably BECAUSE of my Earth information that this one was hard to work out. Still, after a full day of contemplation while working on footwork, i was able to get the hang of stretching my magic beyond my body.
I could just command an object to float around and do stuff thanks to will, but i felt like it was good to keep my abilities diverse.
Depending on the weight of an object, my Strength, and the distance involved, telekinesis was actually one of the lowest costing magics at my disposal. Mostly because it also relied on my physical abilities instead of just my magic, which i was also somewhat gifted in. The best way that i found to measure my Strength, though, was by comparing to Gryn.
Supposedly, my older brother was actually pretty strong for his age with a Strength of five. I had seen him around the house helping with chores lifting heavy objects for mom and by my estimate he could one handed raise a fifty-pound object. With either hand as well as either foot.
In fact, he confessed once that this method of doing things helped to raise his Endurance by working more than one part of his body. In the same conversation, he revealed that the Strength stat was not an overall measurement but a uniform measurement for every part of the body both muscular and skeletal.
One of the most important things behind this stat was Endurance, though, because if your Endurance was too low your body would not be able to support its strength.
My Endurance was currently several points more than my Strength which has recently increased to seventeen. If five points meant i could only curl fifty pounds then seventeen points was essentially one hundred and seventy pounds. That was an insane amount of strength for a kid.
However, my father said that my birth Strength had been roughly the same as the common non-combative adult. This probably meant that people who lived like my father likely had tens or even a few hundred in Strength. Sadly, i did not know how much Strength my father himself had- or any of his stats for that matter.
After only a couple of months of combined magic and martial practices, my body began growing once again. Unlike when i was a baby and just started sprouting like bamboo, my body currently grew outward.
I was still little more than a giant child, but my shoulders and hips had at odd breadth to them after a few weeks that made it awkward to walk around.
I honestly felt like a midget body builder with the current proportions of my body, but once i got used to be almost half as broad as i was tall at the shoulder things got easier. Whether because my Strength continued to rise or because of the actual physical effort, i was even developing muscle that the normal child would never be able to.
My chest had a vague line forming down the middle that spoke of growing pectorals, my shoulders had light humps to either side of my neck, and even the newest pairs of pants and shorts i wore were almost painfully tight in the thighs.
If i did not know any better, I would have thought that my body was going through an early puberty. It was hard to look at myself for a while because i still had babyish features in my face and body besides my general height. I was clearly reminded in more ways than one that i was more than just human in this world.
My parents obviously noticed these mental changes as much as the physical ones, it was hard not to with the way i avoided looking at mirrors or any reflective surfaces. My mother, being the absolute angel that she is, did her best to accommodate my problems by removing mirrors from the downstairs areas. My father, on the other hand, pretended to be oblivious and used shock treatment to help me.
He would constantly remark on my growths and make jokes about how 'sturdy' i looked. Since I more or less understood what he was trying to do, which was probably to numb me to myself, i could not allow myself to get angry with him. I could, however, go to certain lengths to avoid his shock therapy by staying in my room to practice footwork or magical 'theory'.
However, just under six months into my second year of life when my growing had stopped at nearly four-and-a-half feet tall, i felt as though i had essentially mastered the footwork taught to me.
"Dad," i say softly after searching for and finding my father in the front yard with mother tending to the spirit fruit tree. It was, apparently, time for harvest which supposedly could be yearly or once every few years depending on the individual fruits. Right now, my mother had picked five fist-sized fruits and was working on one last cluster while my father held a basket for her.
Looking over with a grin, seeing an opportunity to get in a free hit a shock therapy, my father opens his mouth to speak until noticing the serious expression on my face. Closing his mouth quickly, he just stares at me for a moment as if sizing me up before asking, "What's up, Chuck? Everything okay?"
Nodding my head quickly with the slightest of smiles, i say, "Everything is fine, i was just practicing the footwork and movement techniques you taught me and noticed they had become easy. I think I am ready to learn how to actually fight, now. Will you teach me?"
My father's smile reappeared in an instant, no longer mischievous but now beaming with pride and joy. Nodding quickly and repeatedly, he says, "Of course! Yes! I mean..." he trails off suddenly when mother turns to give him a wry look, clearing his throat and looking away from her gaze. "Just because you think you're ready does not mean that you ARE. We'll have to give you a test."
"Test?" i parrot with interest, wondering what he had in mind. Obviously, it would probably be some form of sparring or else i would just be performing steps while being watched. However, i hoped for it to be a match between us, it would be the perfect chance to see the extent of my physical abilities.
Nodding his assent once more, my father explains, "Once Gryn gets home, we can see how far both of you have come along. You might be stronger than he is, but he has several years of practice and even a few of actual experience on you. Tell me, what do you think the point of perfecting footwork is for?"
For me, this was something of a simple question. "First," i reply with a wry smile, "it will allow me to easily evade attacks and even flee safely from a fight. Secondly, strength starts from the ground up, so having proper footwork and movements will increase the power of my attacks because i can put my full body behind them. Otherwise, it's just cool to beat people while looking like i am dancing."
Laughing outrageously at my final remark, my father almost drops the basket of exotic fruits he was holding and abruptly stops when my mother glares at him. A few seconds later, after catching his breath and regaining composure, my father says, "For the most part, you're right, but there's still a few things missing. For now, we'll stick to your first part, how to dodge and flee."
"Once Gryn gets home," my mother states suddenly and firmly without looking at either of us. "And definitely when we're done picking fruit!"
Picking the spirit fruits did not last long, just some careful trimming of the springs from which fruits hung. However, it was almost two hours before Gryn finally returned home from his day out with friends in town. Some of his friends even returned with him, which made me somewhat uncomfortable under their stares.
It had been a few months since I had seen anybody outside of our immediately family and it was incredibly awkward. Especially because two of his friends that had come over were girls. Gryn was still under ten, but most of his friends were older.
The fact that i was too young to be considering the opposite gender, yet, was beside the point when faced with said opposite gender.
Noticing the change in my demeanor almost as soon as it took place, my mother took it upon herself to distract the other children for a while by talking to them about the spirit fruit tree and its myriad uses. Once their attention was off of me, father took Gryn and I off to one side of the yard for a chat.
"Gryn, you remember when you were younger and asked me if you could start coming hunting?" Our father asks with a wide grin splitting his face. "Well, i want you to test Chuck's reflexes and movements, too. The same way I did yours, think you're up for it?"
"You want me to try to beat a one-and-a-half year old with a stick," Gryn states more than asks, giving father an almost bland sort of look. "It was bad enough for me when I was six, but Chuck... he's-"
"Fine with it," i interject quickly, smiling appreciatively at my older brother. "My Agility is fairly high and i have spent close to a year working on just movement skills. Plus, i have magic. Please don't worry about me, i won't be able to learn anything else unless we do this and i prove myself to our parents."
Glancing over at where his friends were excitedly talking about magic and magical plants with our mother, i quickly realized what the issue was. All of my stats were superior to Gryn's and i was mentally already an adult. He did not want to be embarrassed in front of his friends.
Deciding to try another approach, i say, "I did not want to say this before, but i planned on taking the first hit just to see what it felt like. It will look weird to your friends, but i could make you look either stronger or weaker than you are."
Our father coughed when i said this but Gryn actually looked kind of relieved. Then, briefly, frustrated. Finally he says, "I've never hit a person before, and I know I'm only strong compared to my friends, but you're still..."
"Do i look it?" I ask honestly and openly, wearing a meek and sheepish smile. "Just tell yourself you're doing this for my sake and get it over with."
Looking from me to our father with a tired sigh, Gryn asks in defeat, "What am i using?"
Reaching into a large black leather pouch hanging from his sashed waist, Dad takes out a long and skinny switch of spirit fruit tree. Looking at the three foot branch of willowy tree, he breaks off the last foot of tapering wood to shorten it and make it a little less whip-like.
I was beginning to think there was something severely wrong with these people, a long time ago, but now I was once again reassured.
Stripping the few leaves from the branch that remained with an odd amount of care, he says, "Your mother, Mareen, clipped two dying sprigs from the spirit fruit tree. We were planning on making them into wands for the both of you, it would certainly make magic easier for Gryn to learn. Now, however, I'm going to ask your mother to work her magic on this to make it a sort of baton for Chuck."
I could not imagine what this piece of fruit tree could do for me as it was, but the fruit was magical so the wood should be special enough. My beginner book had listed wands as helpful tools for using and learning magic, but i was ALL magical. Something that was more in the form of a weapon, though, sounded like it would be fun.
Accepting the stripped length of spirit fruit tree as our father stores the the leaves in his evidently magical pouch, Gryn glances over at his friends who were still preoccupied with the plant life surrounding the magical tree.
"When and where? Before they see anything at all." He asks quickly while we were still unnoticed.
"Now and across the chest," i reply while clasping my hands behind my back.
Nodding his head at my display of readiness, Gryn calmly raises the so-called baton and swats me across my chest.
I had been messed up on quite a few occasions besides when i had died in my old life. Chad had once taken the pleasure of stomping on my knee and tore something during a fight after school in sixth grade. In eighth grade one of his friends broke my nose, and on several occasions in high school I received similar injuries.
However, that was with a more seasoned body.
This blinding quick whip of wood smacked dead across my chest and instantly reddened a thick line from one shoulder to the other. This body, no matter how overgrown it was, was still brand new with virgin nerves that had just been brought to life for the first time in this manner.
Tears welled up in my eyes and a few even rolled from either side, but i never made a sound.
The sound of a stout switch on bare skin, however, drew everybody's attention over to us. Except now, i was turned to face Gryn in a low semi-crouched and wide legged stand with my hands still clasped behind my back. The test was about to start.
Starting out with another rise of the baton, Gryn looks and steps straight ahead to give away his intentions before chopping the switch straight down. Pushing myself backward from my leading foot and leaning to the side, i easily evade this strike while creating distance backward.
Doing the same thing once again, Gryn steps forward and chops down head-on at me in on obvious but still unforgiving manner. The attack was so outright and blatant even a blind man could have seen it coming, but if I actually took the hit I would be in pain.
So, i did the same backstep and lean except this time moving to the opposite side.
Anticipating the following strike, i preemptively create even more distance by jumping a whole six feet back and far out of range. Hopefully, this display of Strength, Agility, as well as general awareness and foresight would be enough to pass my father's test.
Gryn, satisfied with having taken the easy way out and met my own needs, lowered the baton and looked to our father.
Nodding his head after looking to our mother, who merely shrugged, our father says, "You both passed. Chuck may begin learning unarmed fighting and Gryn may take up a weapon."
*